Publicly traded Bitcoin miners have secured over $100 billion in artificial intelligence agreements while currently bringing in barely $1.1 billion in annualized revenue.
According to data tracked by CoinShares, miners have contracted more than 4 gigawatts of AI and high-performance computing capacity, though roughly 550 megawatts are actively billing at present.
Even so, the market is granting a substantial valuation premium to firms pivoting toward AI. Businesses possessing contracted AI or HPC capacity trade at an average of 12.9 times enterprise value to projected sales over the next 12 months, contrasted with a 3.7 multiple for firms lacking such deals.
This market enthusiasm increasingly stems from a resource miners originally gathered for cryptocurrency operations that AI developers desperately require now: grid-accessible power.
Scarce power turns mining sites into premium AI assets
The worth of pre-existing mining locations is climbing as alternative data-center proposals confront extended approval procedures alongside increasingly jammed electrical grids throughout the United States.
In its recent industry study, CoinShares documented at least 225 restrictions or moratoriums affecting data-center growth across 30 states, with 151 remaining active. New York enacted a state-level freeze on environmental approvals for operations reaching 50 megawatts or higher, while similar curbs have expanded across other state and county jurisdictions.
These limitations intersect with a US electrical grid interconnection queue spanning approximately 2,600 gigawatts. Facilities finalized in 2025 experienced a median wait time exceeding five years from queue entry to operational status, granting an edge to miners holding energized property and established grid links over entities building facilities from the ground up.
The potential valuation shift remains significant.
CoinShares highlighted a recent transaction valuing three completely leased Northern Virginia AI data centers at approximately $27 million per megawatt. Meanwhile, certain publicly listed miners with energized but unleased infrastructure command valuations under $3 million per megawatt.
This disparity persists despite substantial expenses involved in transforming a Bitcoin mining location into an AI venue. CoinShares projects that retrofits demand roughly $8 million to $15 million per megawatt, compared to roughly $700,000 up to $1 million per megawatt for standard cryptocurrency mining setups.
Nonetheless, financial returns can justify the outlay. AI infrastructure currently yields an estimated $1.5 million in annualized profit per megawatt for operators, roughly three times the $500,000 generated via Bitcoin mining under current market conditions.
Investors have driven up valuations prior to the arrival of that income. Ten of the dozen mining firms monitored by CoinShares expanded between 70% and 195% in the second quarter. Keel Infrastructure, formerly known as Bitfarms, jumped 194.4% despite winding down its cryptocurrency mining operations.
Miners are now paying to leave Bitcoin
The monetary incentives have grown powerful enough that select operators are absorbing financial losses and discarding hardware to accelerate their industry pivot.
During the second quarter, Core Scientific spent $41.9 million to cancel a contract representing about 15 exahashes per second of next-generation Bitcoin mining devices as the company shifts its infrastructure toward AI and HPC clients.
The remaining self-mining division reported a -56% gross margin during this timeframe. Certain machines keep running partially to offset power commitments while facilities undergo conversion.
Keel went further by halting its remaining cryptocurrency mining activities on June 29, anticipating zero mining revenue for the third quarter. This makes its near 200% stock price increase during the second quarter a prime illustration of markets rewarding the transition.
IREN intends to largely conclude its departure from mining by December 31, having booked hundreds of millions of dollars in markdowns and impairments related to mining hardware.
The company’s income composition has already flipped. AI cloud revenue hit $70.5 million during its latest quarter, outperforming the $66.7 million produced by Bitcoin mining for the first time.
Cipher Digital has ceased drafting new capital expenditures for mining, projecting that Bitcoin output will become insignificant prior to an anticipated exit by late 2027. TeraWulf has likewise decommissioned mining structures as high-performance computing leases claim a larger portion of its operations, with those agreements generating 71% of quarterly revenue.
CoinShares estimates that at least 35 EH/s is slated for removal by publicly traded miners amid ongoing conversions, matching roughly 4.7% of the Bitcoin network’s recent 750 EH/s hashrate.
IREN represents 23.2 EH/s of installed capacity, while Cipher’s Odessa facility adds another 11.6 EH/s. Additionally, TeraWulf is phasing out about 145 MW of remaining mining capacity.
At the same time, this pivot may prove difficult to reverse even if a cryptocurrency market rebound strengthens mining economics.
Bitcoin’s recovery to roughly $77,000 has elevated the hash price to about $38 per petahash per second daily, lifting most listed firms above their cash breakeven thresholds following a tough second quarter. The weighted average ex-tax cash expense to produce a single Bitcoin hit approximately $75,500 in that period, while the token closed June close to $58,400.
A stronger cryptocurrency rally could still alter capital allocation strategies for enterprises maintaining their mining options. CoinShares anticipates new mining investments will concentrate among operators such as Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, HIVE Digital, and Bitdeer, which preserve greater flexibility to scale up fleets if profitability improves.
That strategic flexibility is diminishing for miners deepening their AI commitments. Several have dedicated locations to leases extending up to 15 years, while Core Scientific’s choice to allocate nearly $42 million terminating mining gear highlights the capital already redirected elsewhere.
$100 billion backlog now faces a buildout test
The exact expectations driving up miner share prices now place pressure on management to translate signed agreements into operational data centers.
With only about 550 MW billing out of more than 4 GW in contracted capacity, the bulk of the sector’s $100 billion-plus pipeline relies on future construction, financing, and deployment.
Given this scale, investors are pricing parts of the industry based on infrastructure that has yet to generate earnings.
Some conversions are progressing. Core Scientific bills 437 MW, Cipher began collecting rent from its Black Pearl location in August, and IREN targets $4 billion in annual recurring operating revenue by December.
CoinShares projects that the industry’s AI and HPC revenue run rate will more than double by the time of its subsequent report.
Such expansion would narrow the divide between signed agreements and the roughly $1.1 billion in ongoing revenue. It would also validate the thesis for miners whose power portfolios are priced more like future data-center networks than crypto operations.
The primary hazard is that construction, financing, or electrical infrastructure fails to materialize quickly enough.
Billions of dollars must still be deployed to turn contracted megawatts into revenue-generating facilities. Enterprises finishing these builds on schedule will back up their valuations with actual cash flow.
Those failing to do so risk remaining priced for an AI business model existing mostly on paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Bitcoin miners shifting to AI?
Bitcoin miners are pivoting to artificial intelligence because AI and high-performance computing clients pay significantly higher profits per megawatt ($1.5 million annualized profit per megawatt compared to $500,000 for Bitcoin mining). They also possess valuable, scarce grid-connected power assets that AI developers desperately need.
How much AI revenue are Bitcoin miners actually generating?
Despite signing more than $100 billion in AI contracts, publicly traded miners are currently generating barely $1.1 billion in annualized AI revenue, with only about 550 megawatts billing out of more than 4 gigawatts under contract.
What happens to their Bitcoin mining operations?
Some operators are absorbing financial losses and paying millions to terminate mining contracts and scrap hardware—such as Core Scientific paying $41.9 million to cancel equipment agreements and Keel Infrastructure shutting down its mining operations completely—to redirect their infrastructure toward AI.
